page_title: Paul McCartney
section_title: Keyboards
hierarchical_section_title: Paul McCartney / Musicianship / Keyboards
caption_attribution_description: English: Paul McCartney performs during the Gershwin Prize concert honoring him in the East Room of the White House, June 2, 2010.
context_page_description: Sir James Paul McCartney CH MBE is an English singer, songwriter, musician, composer, and record and film producer who gained worldwide fame as co-lead vocalist and bassist for the Beatles. His songwriting partnership with John Lennon remains the most successful in history. After the group disbanded in 1970, he pursued a solo career and formed the band Wings with his first wife, Linda, and Denny Laine.
  A self-taught musician, McCartney is proficient on bass, guitar, keyboards, and drums. He is known for his melodic approach to bass-playing, his versatile and wide tenor vocal range, and his eclecticism. McCartney began his career as a member of the Quarrymen in 1957, which evolved into the Beatles in 1960. Starting with the 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, he gradually became the Beatles' de facto leader, providing the creative impetus for most of their music and film projects. His Beatles songs "And I Love Her", "Yesterday", "Eleanor Rigby" and "Blackbird" rank among the most covered songs in history.
  In 1970, McCartney debuted as a solo artist with the album McCartney.
context_section_description: McCartney played piano on several Beatles songs, including "She's a Woman", "For No One", "A Day in the Life", "Hello, Goodbye", "Lady Madonna", "Hey Jude", "Martha My Dear", "Let It Be" and "The Long and Winding Road". MacDonald considered the piano part in "Lady Madonna" as reminiscent of Fats Domino, and "Let It Be" as having a gospel rhythm. MacDonald called McCartney's Mellotron intro on "Strawberry Fields Forever" an integral feature of the song's character. McCartney played a Moog synthesizer on the Beatles song "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" and the Wings track "Loup (1st Indian on the Moon)". Ingham described the Wings songs "With a Little Luck" and "London Town" as being "full of the most sensitive pop synthesizer touches".
caption: Paul McCartney performing in the East Room of the White House, 2010
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